A WOMAN went on national television to get her 22-year-old tattoo covered up after her husband “plucked up the courage” to tell her it was spelt wrong.

Shelly Hammond, from Willingdon in Eastbourne, appeared on an episode of E4’s Tattoo Fixers Extreme earlier this month.

She finally had the misspelt acrostic name tattoo on her back covered up with a colourful, sentimental hummingbird.

Husband of 13 years Mark told Shelly in 2011 that her tattoo had the word luscious spelt wrong and ever since then she wanted it changed.

The 42-year-old said: “Mark found it funny when he finally plucked up the courage to tell me after five years of dating that ‘luscious’ had been spelt without the ‘c’.

“I wanted to get it covered up and I love watching Tattoo Fixers.”

The tattoo spelt out her name: S – sexy

H – horny

E – erotic

L – lusious (sic)

L – loveable

Y – yes.

Speaking on the programme, Shelley explained: “I’ve got an awful tattoo on my back that I’ve had for 22 years.

“People have come up behind me and moved my vest top out of the way to see it.

“It’s safe to say it has attracted unwanted attention.”

Explaining the tattoo, Shelly said: “All my life I’ve been obsessed with acrostics.

“When I was a little girl I used to like doing them for everyone. For years I tried to find the perfect one for my name.

“One day after an especially heavy night out, I struck gold and I found the perfect one and rushed to get it done.”

The TV programme team gave Shelly two designs to choose from to cover up the tattoo and opted for a hummingbird as it reminded her of her beach wedding.

She told the programme: “We were renewing our wedding vows in Jamaica and a hummingbird was flying around a palm tree and then flew off.

“We were told it was unreal to see and the Jamaican man said it was a blessing and our marriage was meant to be.

“Mark and I love the tattoo, he couldn’t be any prouder. The show was the best experience ever. Thank you to everyone at Tattoo Fixers.”

To watch Shelly on Tattoo Fixers: Extreme, visit catch-up on All4.